The Bare Necessities

I know that some of the side links are hard to read, but I couldn't pass up this background. Everyday Magic is wearing its back-to-school clothes!

Now I know I'm not the only one who read the words in the title and started having flashbacks of an animated dancing bear and loin-cloth wearing boy singing a bouncy little melody together and throwing some papayas around. You all remember the words, right?

Look for the bare necessities
those simple bare necessities
forget about your worries and your strifes
I mean the bare necessities
Old Mother Nature's recipies
That bring the bare necessities of life.

I am discovering the truth to those words these recent days. I have finally come back to school - yes, indeed - and things are changing and shifting beneath my feet all over again. I have grown nervous and anxious thinking about whether I'll be able to find a job, what my classes will be like, how I'll be able to cover expenses, why I can't relax, what's going to happen after I've got my degree - and most important of all, whether my Father in Heaven really is watching out for me. I know that the answer to the lattermost is and unquestionable yes, as I have been so recently reminded - but sometimes it is hard to remember when life becomes overwhelming and times grow harder.

Just as was the case those eleven months ago when I first began this blog, those hard times have driven me to refocus and prioritize my needs and wants. I cannot go through life without taking time to remember the things that are really important - those bare necessities that are so a part of me and every other human being on this earth. And those evalutions and difficult days have made me remember how important it is to look for the Magic every day.

Yesterday I visited my favorite tree on campus - that big, gorgeous willow I wrote about all those months ago, which I've fondly come to call my Neverland Tree. When I left campus in April, it was still grey, skeletal, and bare limbed. Now, it is a palace of greenery, blooming with life all over again. Today I was the recepient of kindness, the singer of songs, the dancer of dances, the rider of a bike, the reader of books, the student of teachers, the seeker of help, the asker of prayers, the winner of races, the lover of life - and in everything I became, and everything I saw, I found something to love and enjoy and show gratitude for.

The past few days have been difficult. Times are hard, days are long, and change still threatens to shake me off my feet. But the Magic remains - the blessings, the gifts, the beauty, every little thing that makes life worth living. They are still there - those bare necessities that are so simple they are almost invisible. Air to breathe, food to eat, a wind to cool a heated brow... The embrace of a friend, the presence of loved ones, the smile of a stranger... music and dancing, laughter and smiles, green grass and bare feet... the coolness of water, the warmth of the sun, the annointing of rain... a prayer said in secret, a favorite scripture, a reminder of divine love... They are everywhere, anywhere, right before your eyes, just waiting for you to reach out, take hold, and delight in the blessings. We need them, or life loses meaning and vibrance, and despair isn't long in finding clearance to start its invasion. Moments of beauty, and physical revatilization, and quiet holiness - they are necessities. "Old Mother Nature" put them there, and a loving Heavenly Father who only wants us to be the best and happiest that we can be.

And you know, as I begin to see these little blessings all around, and begin to rely on them as my necessities, my "worries and [my] strifes" begin to fade away, one little bit of Magic at a time.

'Til next time, my friends...